USS SHREVEPORT LPD-12 Patch – Sew On Sailors! Enjoy this beautifully embroidered USS SHREVEPORT LPD-12 Patch. You'll love displaying or wearing it on a flight suit or jacket! 4" inches Sew On US Veteran-Owned Business USS Shreveport (LPD-12) is an Austin-class American amphibious transport dock. It is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city in Louisiana. Her keel was laid down on 27 December 1965 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 22 October 1966 sponsored by Mrs. Andrew McBurney Jackson, Jr., and commissioned on 12 December 1970 with Captain Pehr H. Pehrsson in command. History 1970s On 22 January 1971, Shreveport departed Puget Sound for her home port, Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, where she arrived on 21 February. Between 9 March and 9 April 1971, the amphibious transport dock underwent shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and, from 16 June to 4 August, she carried 375 midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy on a training cruise to Northern Europe. After post shakedown repairs from 6 October to 24 November 1971, she sailed for the Caribbean Sea, where she participated in landing exercises during the first part of 1972. On 12 June, the ship again sailed on a midshipman training cruise to Northern Europe, visiting the Azores; Aalborg, Denmark; Portsmouth, England; and Le Havre, France before returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 3 August. During the rest of 1972, Shreveport conducted amphibious training exercises off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Shreveport, with Amphibious Squadron 2, departed Norfolk on 4 January 1973 for her first tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron stopped at Morehead City, North Carolina, and embarked elements of the Sixth Marines (BLT 1/6) before it proceeded to Rota, Spain, where it was assigned to CTF 61. The task force departed Rota on 16 January, called at Cannes, France, on 18 January, and was underway for Monte Romano, Italy, on 22 January. During her six-month deployment, Shreveport also visited ports in Italy, Greece, Crete, and Turkey before returning to Morehead City on 2 July. The Marines were offloaded, and the ship continued to Norfolk that afternoon. Shreveport operated in the Norfolk area until February 1974 when she sailed, with PhibRon 2, for operations in the Caribbean. She returned to her home port on 19 March. The ship made another trip south to the Panama Canal area that lasted from 18 April to 4 June. On 24 June, Shreveport sailed for Rotterdam and another deployment with the Sixth Fleet. Throughout 1974 and half of 1975, Shreveport was the flagship of the Caribbean Amphibious Ready Group and participated in various fleet exercises with the Marine Corps, occasionally also with South American Forces. In July 1975, she deployed back to the Mediterranean where she participated in a major NATO exercise involving British, Turkish and U.S. Navies. During the return trip to Norfolk in February 1976, the ship's flag bridge was destroyed by a forty-foot wave off Cape Hatteras. Thereafter "Shreveport" returned to fleet exercises in the Caribbean until September 1979 when she began another Mediterranean deployment where she completed four major amphibious operations with various European allies. 1980s In September 1981, Shreveport visited Cancún, Mexico to support President Ronald Reagan’s participation in the North-South Economic Summit. During a Mediterranean cruise that began in August 1982, Shreveport spent four months off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon. As a result of this operation, she received the Navy Unit Commendation and the Navy Expeditionary Medal. In July 1984, she broke the world record for transiting the Suez Canal.[1] In late 1984, she received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for conducting mine clearing operations in the Red Sea in support of Operation Intense Look. Later in the deployment, she was called to
